Audit finds dozens of ex-spouses of Hartford school board employees remained on health insurance, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars in claims

A Hartford Internal Audit Commission report has found that more than two dozen former spouses of board of education employees were improperly kept on health care plans paid for by the school district (Jimmy Emerson / via Flickr)

The city of Hartford’s internal audit commission has found that more than two dozen ex-spouses of Hartford Board of Education employees remained on their health insurance accounts years after being divorced -- including one who continued to be insured for 15 years, racking up about $700,000 in claims.

That case has been referred to the Hartford Police Department for investigation and possible criminal prosecution for insurance fraud, according to the audit commission. Another 21 cases have been sent to the police for further investigation because they failed to submit eligibility documentation to the commission. Those 21 dependents have received about $420,000 in claims, according to the report.

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The commission’s findings were based on a review of an audit performed last year by Secova Inc. a management consultant working for the school board. That audit led to the firing of Joanna Laiscell, the district’s executive director of financial management, when Secova determined that she had kept her ex-husband as an eligible dependent on her health care plan more than three years after their divorce, costing the district about $6,700.

Schools Superintendent Leslie Torres-Rodriguez said she initiated the audit when she began work in the district in December 2017 and that the district is continuing its own internal investigation into Secova’s findings.

The Hartford Public Schools "will hold accountable any and all employees who are deemed to have improperly taken advantage of our health care plan,” Torres-Rodriguez said in a statement, adding that the district has implemented revised policies and procedures to prevent it from happening again.

Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said the city has an obligation to ensure taxpayer dollars are properly used.

“Last year, the city of Hartford began a similar audit and we expect to have the results later this year,” he said.

According to the commission review, Secova reported to Hartford Public Schools that 176 dependents could not be confirmed as eligible, including 109 children and 67 spouses. As a result of the Secova inquiry, 81 of those dependents were dropped voluntarily from health insurance by employees.

Secova had requested eligibility verification on 1,710 of the healthcare plan’s 3,676 dependents.

The commission, through a review of state superior court records or other official sources, found that 27 of 67 spouses were actually ex-spouses and that 17 of the 27 had received about $63,000 in claims following their divorces. The other ten had not made any claims.

According to the commission’s report, four employees voluntarily dropped their ex-spouses when asked for documentation.

The report noted that the Hartford Public Schools informed the commission about at the beginning of its audit that they had recently found an ex-spouse who had made more than $300,000 in ineligible claims and that the ex-spouse had been voluntarily dropped from the plan just prior to the Secova audit.

After an investigatin the commission determined that the district employee and ex-spouse had been divorced since 2002 and remained on the plan until mid-2017. The commission obtained claims totaling about $700,000 during that time.